New Temples

It was recently announced that there will be two new temples in Arizona. The Mesa temple will still be our closest temple but it is still exciting. There will be one in Gilbert and one in Gila Valley. It will be a few years but I am still excited to bring my kids to the open house. You can read the press release here http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/president-monson-announces-two-new-temples-in-arizona Yea for new temples!

Our Newest Addition

Well he’s not really new but I wanted everyone to meet our dog Buddy. We got him last January from the Humane Society. He is a 1 year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Yes he has no tail and very short legs. He is really a very good submissive dog. We haven’t had any problems with “accidents” in the house and he tolerates the kids pretty well. I wish he enjoyed the kids more, but to be honest, if I were him I would probably steer clear of the kids too (I won’t mention exactly what the kids have done, but they have had to loose some serious privileges as they learn how to be nice to dogs).

We have noticed some benefits to having a dog. John and I are keeping in better shape by taking him on walks or jogs every day (I walk, John jogs, he says it’s not “manly” to just walk your dog. We’ll see how well this keeps up in July). Also, playing baseball with the kids is a lot more fun. I’m pitcher, the kids are “at bat” and Buddy is our catcher/outfielder. It’s so nice to not have to chase the ball down every time. I get to entertain the kids and the dog all at the same time. He also entertains the kids by playing hide and seek with them. The kids will take a doggie treat and hide. When they yell, “I’m ready!” Buddy runs off to find them.

Being Honest

Alan had to stand in the corner today because he lied to me. After getting out of the corner we talked about it and I asked him to tell me that he was sorry and that he wouldn't do it again. I think he is understanding and really trying to be honest because he replied, "I won't do it again. . . . Well, maybe."

Well at least he is being honest.

Movie Buff Bowl

A friend of mine gave me a movie buff bowl for my birthday and I thought it was so cool I wanted to let everyone else know how to make one too. Here's the link to how to make it. http://jas.familyfun.go.com/crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11894 It's a bowl made out of a roll of tickets. Oh, and by the way, John made me a chocolate peanut butter fudge cake for my birthday and it was fantastic!

Saguaro National Park

John and I have decided that every year we need to take a vacation that is just our family. We love to visit with others but we think it is really important to have some alone time as a family. This year we went to Saguaro National Park just west of Tucson. It was a perfect little vacation. 2 nights, less than 2 hours drive, plenty to do, and very inexpensive. We went camping and the kids had a blast. We even felt really cool that there were two other Eurovans at the campground. Woo hoo!

I never really appreciated that the desert actually does have a natural beauty to it. I also never appreciated how cool the saguaro cactus (the tall one with arms that you see in movies) is. If any of you are ever at a national park with kids make sure you take advantage of the junior ranger program that they have. They give the kids workbooks to fill out and give them a certificate and a badge when they complete it. It's nice to have a little something extra to keep the kids busy while you are on vacation. At this one they also let the kids borrow a backpack full of fun stuff like binoculars, magnifing glass, and books about different desert animals and plants. We also got to visit the Sonoran Desert Museum. I highly recomend that if you are ever out there.

Yes we took multiple family pictures, and yes this was by far the best one

John's Notes on blogs

Hi Friends,

When Allison told me she was going to put up a blog I laughed. Why would we want a blog? Do we want just anyone to see family pictures and know just what's up in our life? Of course, I'm the one that started it by posting pictures on Picasa. Anyway, I guess we decided we didn't care. So here's our blog.

Then I got thinking about everyone we know that has a blog that I never go to. I'm pretty sure our blog will fall into that category soon enough. Well, I found a way to add all my friends blogs in one page so I can quickly scan them to see if anything has changed. The secret is RSS feeds.

I used iGoogle but you can probably do it on any site that lets you add RSS feeds. I won't bore you with the details but here is the URL that tells you how to do it with iGoogle. http://decoding.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/how-to-add-an-rss-feed-on-your-igoogle-homepage/. Oh and it may only work for people that have blogspot (blogger) addresses. When it comes time to put in the URL add RSS.XML at the end.

Now I set my homepage to iGoogle and check out all the happenings in my friends blogs.

Enjoy reading ours because I enjoy reading yours.

It has begun!

So I have finally started a blog and honestly I still have mixed feelings about it. I am still getting used to blogs and only remember to check others sporadically. I often feel so overwhelmed at writing a whole letter that I put of writing any bit of news until suddenly it is Christmas time again. Hence I only keep up with the world once a year. Maybe this will be easier that I can just post a short note about what's going on. We'll see . . .